Luka Yuanyuan Yang took over The Garden Cinema with screenings of five of her short films and feature documentary Chinatown Cha Cha.
Luka Yuanyuan Yang is a Chinese documentary filmmaker who directed Chinatown Cha Cha. Her debut feature-length documentary, it tells the story of a group of former Chinese American Chinatown nightclub dancers.
Chinatown Cha Cha was screened in the evening, while during the day a collection of five of her short films showcasing the history of American Chinese performance and opera were screened.
Filmed between 2019 and 2022, that derive from her multifaceted research on Chinese diasporas. They include: Tales of Chinatown (2019); Coby and Stephen Are in Love (2019); The Lady from Shanghai (2019); Cantonese Tunes on Mott Street (2022); and also American Relative (2022).
The films beautifully represent forgotten voices from the Chinese diaspora in America. They also tell the sanctuary people find in performance, and the bittersweet nature of an elder looking back on their lives.
The screenings took place on Wednesday, April 23rd 2025.
In addition to the screenings, there was a special live performance by the Grant Avenue Follies. Featured in several of Luka Yuanyuan Yang’s documentaries, they are a senior dancing troupe.
Luka Yuanyuan Yang also signed copies of her newly published book. Dance in Herland.
Held at The Garden Cinema, a magnificent independent cinema in central London. Modelled in an art-deco style, the two-screen cinema with a basement bar is a beautiful representation of a bygone era. There are often screenings of Chinese movies as part of their Chinese Film Project.
Curator Millie Zhou explained: “[the] Chinese Cinema Project showcases underrepresented Chinese-language films with a focus of auteurship. Luka Yuanyuan Yang’s shorts collection shown in the programme all derived from her ongoing multi-faceted research on Chinese diasporas, which is very focused and is not only relevant but educative, for audiences like myself who are part of the diasporas.”
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